Sunday, July 10, 2005
Bike Week
It's Bike Week here this weekend. That's the chance for thousands of motorcycle riders to converge on our small hamlet and raise the level of discussion to a yell so you can be heard over the sounds of the bikes.
The picture of the motorcycle rider is that of the young Marlon Brando or Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. The outsider coming to town to disrupt the way of life and generally be bad. In reality, the average biker, specially a Harley rider, is probably well employed, slightly above average age and has no intention of upsetting the status quo that enables him to afford a vehicle that sells for several thousand dollars. Bike week allows that person to act the part of the rebel.
I had the chance to bartend out at the center of all the activities this weekend. While there were some there who probably fit the rebel without a clue category, most of the riders seemed to be letting loose like kids on spring break. It was time to let loose and raise hell because Monday they had to go back to the office. Walking around at the vending tents, I noticed that nothing was cheap except the sunglasses. And even those were going for $20. Not the kind of things that Fonda and Hopper would have been buying.
The good news is that Bike Week comes at a time when tourism is traditionally slow, the week after the Holiday. Although you couldn't tell that by the size of the group I had last night.
The picture of the motorcycle rider is that of the young Marlon Brando or Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. The outsider coming to town to disrupt the way of life and generally be bad. In reality, the average biker, specially a Harley rider, is probably well employed, slightly above average age and has no intention of upsetting the status quo that enables him to afford a vehicle that sells for several thousand dollars. Bike week allows that person to act the part of the rebel.
I had the chance to bartend out at the center of all the activities this weekend. While there were some there who probably fit the rebel without a clue category, most of the riders seemed to be letting loose like kids on spring break. It was time to let loose and raise hell because Monday they had to go back to the office. Walking around at the vending tents, I noticed that nothing was cheap except the sunglasses. And even those were going for $20. Not the kind of things that Fonda and Hopper would have been buying.
The good news is that Bike Week comes at a time when tourism is traditionally slow, the week after the Holiday. Although you couldn't tell that by the size of the group I had last night.
